ANNA MARIA – Charlie Salem now serves in the Anna Maria City Commission seat recently vacated by Carol Carter.
Salem will serve the remaining months of the two-year commission term that expires after the city elections in November. Former commissioner Brian Seymour was also considered for the commission appointment.
On Jan. 26, commissioners Jon Crane, Robert Kingan, Deanie Sebring and Mark Short ranked the two applicants according to their own first and second preferences. Crane, Kingan and Sebring ranked Salem as their first preference and Seymour as their second. Short ranked Seymour as his first preference and Salem as his second. The applicants received one point for a first preference and two for a second preference. Salem received five points, Seymour received seven and Salem won the seat with the lowest total score.
City Clerk LeAnne Addy then swore Salem into office before he took his seat on the dais and participated in the rest of the meeting as a voting member.
Applicant presentations
For the first time, the appointment process featured a standalone commission workshop on Jan. 19 that allowed the two applicants to answer 24 questions provided in advance. The workshop also allowed Salem and Seymour to highlight their professional and political accomplishments.
Salem holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and government and a doctorate degree in law. He worked in Tallahassee as a special counsel for the State of Florida’s Office of Planning and Budgeting and then moved to Washington D.C. to run a state office of federal affairs pertaining to Hurricane Andrew recovery efforts in south Florida in the early 1990s. He then served as legislative director and chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and finished his time working in the D.C. area as a public policy director for Microsoft.
Seymour served as an Anna Maria commissioner from late 2016 to late 2019. He owns and operates the Anna Maria General Store & Deli on Pine Avenue and he and his business partners operate the City Pier Grill in a pier space leased from the city.
Former commissioner Brian Seymour also applied to fill the vacant commission seat. – Joe Hendricks | SunSalem and Seymour’s presentations helped the four sitting commissioners make their appointment the following week. When filling past vacant commission seats, the applicants were simply given a few minutes to address the commission before the appointment was made using the same ranking process.
Mayor Dan Murphy proposed the new candidate vetting process.
“I think this is a good process. I think it’s a much better process than what we were using in the past,” Murphy said after Salem was sworn in.
“It was great to learn more about the candidates. I think this was the best way to do it,” Short said. Crane and Sebring agreed.
“As a participant in the process, I thought it was well-thought-out,” Salem said.
Kingan thanked Salem and Seymour for putting themselves forward as candidates.
“Either of you would have been a very good addition to this commission. I very much hope, Brian, that you will remain in contention because I think you’re an asset to the community and definitely have what it takes,” Kingan said.
Workshop insights
During the workshop, Salem referenced the recently-expressed desires of State Rep. Will Robinson Jr. and other members of Manatee County’s legislative delegation for a state-funded study regarding the possible elimination or consolidation of the three Island cities and the three city governments.
Robinson and his fellow legislators also announced their pursuit of state legislation that could allow Manatee County to preempt the city of Holmes Beach’s building codes and build a multi-story public parking garage.
“I’m really concerned about our permanent resident population and the ability of our citizens to be able to govern themselves. I have a background in putting together coalitions. I would use that experience to help craft a strategy to work with the commission, the mayor and our lobbyist on this issue,” Salem said during the workshop.
During the workshop, Seymour expressed concerns about the utility grids in Anna Maria and throughout the rest of the Island. He said Anna Maria experiences power outages even on sunny days and Spectrum internet service was recently down for two non-consecutive days, which he said impacts businesses’ ability to process payments.
“How can we partner with FPL and Spectrum to make our grid a little more stable?” Seymour said.
During Thursday’s meeting, Salem referenced Seymour’s concerns and said, “He raised an issue last week around utility liability that I frankly hadn’t considered. I’d like to dive into that a little deeper.”
The Anna Maria City Commission consists of Charlie Salem, Deanie Sebring, Mark Short, Jon Crane and Robert Kingan, who work in unison with non-voting mayor Dan Murphy. – Joe Hendricks | SUnDuring the workshop, Salem and Seymour both said they’d seek reelection if appointed. Both will have the opportunity to run in the fall election that will determine who fills the commission seats currently held by Crane, Kingan and Salem.
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